Have I mentioned I love my steam cleaner? Off it goes to the machine shop.

Figured they'd appreciate me cleaning my head before they have to mess with it.


Attachment 237805

Link to a tool similar to yours?

http://steam-cleaners-direct.com/m/scd-vx5000-steam-cleaner.html
I recommend getting a cheaper $150 one on amazon. I use mine for my business so I need a lot of boost...errr PSI and hotter steam.

How important is temperature? The one you linked says 298 degrees, the consumer one only says "over 200 degrees".

I used to have the model below that and honestly it was good for what it was, and the average light usage customer wouldn't complain, but the VX5000 is literally night and day better. Rips shit off the surface the old one would barely budge.

And the reason is the heat of the steam. It is able to get the heat in the dirt/oil/paint yadda yadda much deeper and much quicker. Add that on top of 30more psi of pressure and shit melts away. So really heat just makes it easier to loosen the surface tension of the grime more easily.

Saying that. For light cleaning and occasional use you can't go wrong with the 1375. It is one of the best before you start getting into the really expensive commercial steam cleaners. I used my old one for years before I upgraded.

Oh also forgot. They are measuring the heat at the tank, not the tip. So in the tank you are seeing 200ish but the actual steam temp at the wand is much lower. VX5k is measured at the wand tip. Bigggg difference

Good call on giving the machine shop a clean head. At the very beginning of my intake valve woes, the machine shop bead blasted the head and neglected to clean out the oil galleries. Ended up scrapping that head and it couldn't have done the short block much good either. Grrrrrrrrr . . . .

he's on a role ladies and gents

Which role is he on?

Forum slut, apparently.

You sleep with it, don't you?

he uses it to clean up after pulling his head too :party:

I turn it up to 98.6º....you know what no...not going there.:fawk:

I'm good at pulling heads with steamy tips.

GOING THERE!!

You boys are turning me on.

I'm giving Rick the sassy white girl award, you get ehm gurl

Attachment 237803

:party:

Back on track though. I was discussing solutions with Bryan and wanted to query those who have a lot of experience as well(Hornet). How far should I take this. Just replace exhaust valves and springs and call it a day? What else *should* be done while the head is off and I have the opportunity to do it right.

The head is a 99 and the P.O. had it:
ported, polished, 3 angle valve job, backcut valves. So not much left to do besides springs and stems right? I was told the 99 had solid lifters so shim under buckets not necessary(also pricy).

So don't really wish to spend a lot but I also want to do it properly to avoid this issue again (hopeful not expected).

Part of me wants to install a water/meth kit to help eith my EGT's, a little insurance against 91 octane and the lack of access to E85

I think the light doubles are nice insurance if you track the car a lot. Also good for holding the intakes closed against boost. I'm back to running OEM valves. The Supertech's self-destructed just as quickly as the OEM's back when I was dealing with the other machine shop. I couldn't tell any real advantage for the Supertechs. I never had exhaust valve troubles though, only intake valves.

Shim under bucket is a variation of the solid lifters. Under sustained high-RPM (Spec Miata races), the OEM lifters with shims sandwiched between the cam lobe and lifter body have been know to fly out. It's not common and keeping an eye on lash and respecting your redline should prevent it. I'd say if you're building an 8K+ grenade, do it. Otherwise . . . .

You could do a BP5A camshaft, but with a turbo, not sure it's worthwhile.

Anyways, I'd do the light doubles and the basic rebuild. Depending upon what the machinist finds with the exhaust valve, you might want to upgrade those too. Anything else . . . meh.

Good point on all things Hornet. Plus the fact that the engine and head only have 18k at most on them makes me not too worried about the condition of it all.

Did you ever find out what your new machine at did differently when he cut your valves? Something I should pass on to mine?

Nothing definitive, but I strongly suspect that the first machine shop's seat cutting machine (which was new) was out of calibration somehow -- cutting the wrong angles.

Title this as: Tools I should have bought at the beginning of my rebuild.

Plus a 36-2 timing wheel to go with my ATI damper, 2 cam seals, two rear coolant gaskets, 99 head gasket, valve cover gasket, front main seal... Lots o' gaskets and seals.

Attachment 237786v

Ninja key makes a decent keychain bottle opener. That's about it. I also don't see why loosening the front cam cap isn't easier than using the above tool, especially because you've probably loosened it to get the old one out. Rest of those tools are invaluable. Rms and FMs especially. And the crank tool. OMG the crank tool. Although I've done long nose and short nose 1.6, na8 and NB, still have yet to use all three bolt patterns...

I've heard really mixed reviews on the ninja tool. Some can't live without it, others hate it. Figured I'd find thr answer for myself. If it doesn't work, it was cheap and its a great bottle opener as stated.

The crank tool and RM are two I'm really happy I spent money on. Not scared of that job now.

Just heard back from the machine shop after they hot tanked the head and did a leakdown test/inspection for damage.

First thing he says is, "boy you certainly got some heat into this sucker didn't yah!"

-minor warping on top and bottom of the head, not significant(at least not enough to cause a head gasket leak)
-leakage on both the intake and exhaust valves due to valve seat damage

He said it honestly wasn't terrible, and mostly all the damage was localized to the #1 cylinder valves.

So now the options I go through

Is inconel worth the extra money?

My shopping list in my head
Stainless supertech exhaust and intake valves
Light double springs
new valve stem seals
Spring retainers(not sure I want to spend the money on titanium)

What else am I missing here? I got a rough quote @ $400 for all the work.

Hornet what did your recent machine shop machine the valve seats to? 45-55 thousands?

They went to the fattest value in the book. 60 on the exhaust. I can't remember what it was on the intake. The new head is holding up great though. So nice to not worry about it.

I'm wondering if your #1 cylinder is lean? Maybe send off the injectors for cleaning/flow testing while you're down?

Can't imagine a lean condition being caused by the injectors only because of how new the ID1000s are. Maybe I had a lean condition on the old RC750s? Not sure, too many variables at play here. Injectors. My tuning, wideband failure headed back from an autocross, my tuning...did I mention my tuning? ;)

60 on exhaust? Damn, well, if it works, it works.

Shop owner said, give me your specs, I'll do whatever you like as long as I don't think it is a poor choice.

Exhaust seats are always fatter to transfer the heat.

This scares the absolute crap out of me, I have this exact same paranoia. I've stacked the deck as best I can but the tune is going to make or break me :noes:

Get it road worthy, stay out of boost, get a pro to tune it, maintain said tune.

That's what I'd do if done over again. I got an AEM Meth kit to deter anymore lean events. Will probably run mostly water through it for detonation reasons but will add some Meth to raise the octane a little as well.

Like you I'm going in both arms swinging this time.

RC's are arguably the crappiest injectors on the market. I wouldn't doubt that they ran lean/rich/bad.

There should be a federal law mandating that e85 be available everywhere.

I'd like access to 93 octane as well. Damn you Utah!

Its been a while but I seem to remember it already has some pretty solid gov't subsidies attached, and all in all its pretty terrible for the environment overall...

...but probably still "better" than regular dinosaur juice. I still wants it tho.

Move to Suckramental :giggle:

Well run so much ALLOFIT that you'll be twisting off input shafts on 6 speeds like my buddy

Yeah corn isn't the answer. There are better plants to get E85 type of fuel from. Brazil has been using sugar cane for like 20 years with a much better yield. However, it is a step in the right direction. Also, it smells better. :giggle:


Jeff, that sucks about your engine but it is good that you know it could be worse. Excited to see what you do.

Supertech all the things!
+1 exhaust/intake stainless valves
Double light springs
Titanium retainers

Goes to the machine shop Monday and hopefully gets done fast!

Attachment 237775

:burncash::burncash::burncash::burncash:

Congrats

done right the 1st time. yes

Let us hope so Vlad, ended up spending more than I wanted to, but wanted to not worry in the future.

Going to take Hornet's advice and go for .060 seat thickness on the exhaust valves. Shoot for 74 lbs of spring pressure, but what I'm still unsure of is the intake valve seat width. Seem to have a hard time pulling up much info on how thick people are going on the intake side of the seat. After reading several of Emilio's posts on the subject, it sounds as if they go on the thick side on both intake and exhaust and have far fewer issues.

Figure 74-80 lbs will be good(with oem spring seats)for 20 psi of boost to retain enough spring pressure.

Trying to get some small things done while I wait for my head, which I am told will be ready on Wednesday. Still Need to make a bracket for the meth tank and pump which I will mount near the battery, pull my OEM damper, install front main seal, Put on ATI damper, install 1.8 water pump pulley and alternator pulley. After all that then just basic reassembly.

Got some parts powder coated since all I'm doing is waiting./

This one is for Curly ;) It has been bugging me as well. Solar Black

Attachment 237740

Timing belt alignment plate. Used an oil pen so make the letters easier to see.

Attachment 237741

Didn't like how hard it was to clean the old Wrinkle Black finish I had, so I had him powder coat it a smoother wrinkle. Then for fun I decided to sand the 4 rails along with the lettering. It gives it a little more contrast and looks great. Also took off the baffle covers and cleaned off the old rotting gasket and used Permatex Black.

Attachment 237742

Cleaned up my rear water neck and then remembered I bought a CNC Spacer a long time ago and decided to throw that in rather than spend time cleaning up the old spacer.

Attachment 237743

And when I can attach it, my fuel rail is all ready to go in. Going to wait to make the lines till I decide where I want to remount my fuel regulator. The old spot wasn't bad, just in the "clusterfuck" area.

Attachment 237744

Who are you and what have you done with Jeff?

LOL. Jeff's still alive and well and keeping the powder coater in business.

If you previously used that waterneck with a BEGI spacer, check carefully for cracks and flatness. Nothing sucks more than getting everything together and installed and finding a water leak as you are filling fluids (been there).

<p></p><p>Didn't you see the part where he repowdercoated something just to make it easier to clean?</p>

I think I see a spec of dust on one of the parts. Need to verify w/ a magnifying glass

This is unacceptable.

!
 

If I hadn't bought the CNC one I would have, TRUST ME, I'm far from sanity yet....sadly...:facepalm:

Iprobably would have as well if it wasn't for spending 10 hours restoring my dads throttle body on his 91 VW Westfalia. I'm restoring it for him so it has been a fun project, even though it is eating up my free time.

(wish I had a before shot of how oxidized and corroded this aluminum was)
Attachment 237736

I spent a while bringing that waterneck back to life and didn't see any but didnt think to check for warpage, thanks!

If you had a powder coater who didn't charge for sandblasting and did trade for sandwiches, wouldn't you take advantage of that? All those parts cost me $35 in trade....so essentially free in my eyes! ;)
:party:

Definitely had a front main seal leak going on...this area was filled to the brim with oil/dirt goulash.

Thought Id have trouble pulling my stock damper off but it just came off with a slight tap of a deadblow hammer. Hopefully the ATI is as easy to install.

Attachment 237737

Jeff,

I just put my ATI damper on over the weekend. It wasn't hard if you have the right installation tool. If you think you'll be ok using the stock crank bolt to pull it on, you're gonna have a bad time for sure. Thankfully I ended up with a 24" long end-wrench in the correct size to use with my puller/installer from a neighbors garage sale last year. Without it, i'd have been cursing the install if I tried to use a 12" adjustable.

If you don't have something to hold the crank when you go to re-torque the crank bolt, make something now. The bolt pattern on the ATI is different than the stock miata damper (shocker, i know). Try a little bit of anti-seize on the nose of the crank, and clean any rust or corrosion off of the nose of the crank.

I'm not too worried, I bought this damper installer in preparation for it. I was just going to rent one but figured it'd be handy to have in the toolbox.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1432660851

Wait, so will the FM Crank tool not work with the ATI damper? If so, how are people holding the crank in position?

I have that same puller/installer. Works awesome.

I just used some 2" x 1/8" flat stock I had sitting around and measured the center distance of 2 of the bolt holes. I believe it was 2-3/8" center to center. I drilled the 2 holes very close to the edges of the flat stock so I could still fit my socket on the crank bolt. Worked like a charm. I don't remember the bolt size though (maybe I drilled them at 7/16").

Maybe the fm crank tool does work, but probably not, I don't have one to check. EDIT: Nevermind, I just looked. Their website says that their tool is definitely not compatible with the ati damper.

<p></p><p>Trans in 5th gear with the rear wheels on the ground.</p>

I hadn't thought of that. I'll try that if I ever lose the thing I made.

Why are you unbolting your oil pump?

Wasn't aware I was? What causes you to think that?(really curious, not sure what I did wrong)

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...1&d=1432680626

Are these not both oil pump bolts? The one on the right side of the image is the one that hemorrhages oil if you remove the AC bracket and don't replace it with a shorter bolt. Perhaps this is the source of your goulash?

Attachment 237735

Das es mien for comparison. Notice if you will how clean my engine is compared to yours? :dealwithit:

C'mon, Jeff is just unbolting allthethings. Sound operation.

If ever the gauntlet was thrown...

Watch him try to sleep now :brain:

<p></p><p>Sounds like a call out to me. &nbsp;Time to step up your game Jeff!!</p>

Jeff does not sleep. Like a dolphin, he simply shuts down one brain hemisphere at a time. When the right side is shut down, he turns a wrench. When the left side sleeps he polishes things.